


Just

by seraphienus



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 11:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4704776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphienus/pseuds/seraphienus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A petty theft that went all wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Absolute AU. Sad, sad and more sadness.

There was absolute silence. Even though there were footsteps rushing up and down the emergency aisle, Joseph Oda couldn’t hear anything but the silence.

He sat on the orange bench with elbows folded resting on his lap and forehead against his intertwined fingers. There were bruises and light blood forming on fresh scratches scathed on his face. But he could barely feel any pain, not while the fear in his heart crippled him of everything externally. The horror flashed across his eyes kept replaying in his mind as his teeth subtly bit into his lower lip, almost as if to swallow the sorrow, the fright. As if to tame its existence, to erase its prowess.  

One of the uniformed tried to approach Joseph but was stopped by a fellow lady cop, who then whispered, “Give him some time.”

_“Get in the car, Joseph! He’s trying to escape!”_

_Sebastian spun into the action as the criminal ran out of the café, holding a gun in his hand after he wounded a few hostages in his failed robbery attempt. The duo got the tip off an hour earlier and had failed to have the paperwork approved in time to rally the squad with them. Despite so, Sebastian insisted that it was up to them and not the higher-ups, leaving Joseph no choice but to follow him as an additional precaution. And it was the right call in all honesty, because as soon as they arrived at the café, the crime was already set to go._

_So they got into the car, dashing down the street chasing after the white truck in a frantic chase. Unwilling to pit against a losing fight, the thief immediately fled the scene as soon as he heard the sirens coming down his way. They crossed multiple streets and escaped narrow traffic lights but Sebastian wasn’t ready to let up. It was how he’d always been, angry and persistent in the pursuit of crime until they came to just. Even though it had been always the same when it came to Sebastian, Joseph couldn’t shake the bad premonition creeping up his skin. The skies were dark and pouring with rain, yet this cat and mouse race wasn’t slowing down for its own good. The vision outside their windshield was getting weaker and blurry, leaving the silhouette getting fainter and shallower._

_“Sebastian, slow down!” Joseph yelled, unable to shake the discomfort in his mind._

_His partner refused to listen however, gaining more confidence with the situation as he spoke, “No, we just managed to cut him off at 64th, we can drive him into the one-way street at 68th and have him there. Hang on tight, I’m gonna take a shortcut now!”_

_It was a narrow alley that no car was supposed to fit in. Yet Sebastian did and forced the car to stay as straight as he could until he saw the end of the lane that should break them into 68th. The drive gave Sebastian all the leeway he needed to cut into the direction the criminal headed for. He clearly knew what the game plan was and how he was going to achieve it, but still Joseph couldn’t kick his worries away. Something spell trouble, something seem not right. And they couldn’t have been more accurate the moment they approached the exit and cut hard left, where their speculations couldn’t have prepared them in time for what they were about to see. Or experience.  
_

_The hard left skidded the tyres on the road and started hydroplaning. Sebastian gripped onto the wheels hard and forced the car to stay straight but he knew nothing was budging. The rain hit his windshield so hard that he could see nothing and hence do nothing either. Joseph grabbed onto the handle as he braced for the impact, be it the side of the car crashing into a wall on his side or headbutting into something frontal, he just wanted something to happen now, instead of them swiveling around endlessly._

_“Hold on, Joseph! Just hold on!!!” Sebastian yelled, constantly turning the wheels in the opposite direction that of his car whilst stomping on the brakes. But nothing was working, almost as if everything had died when he needed them most._

_And as he was desperately cussing for them to work, a shadow loomed directly ahead of them and with barely few feet from the impact, Joseph saw the shadow of the black street lamp right in front of them before they crashed hard right into it. Although the air bags deployed the moment the impact struck, it didn’t save them from the worst. The collision broke the neck of the street lamp causing it to slowly detach, gaining velocity as it fell right on top of the car where the driver’s seat was. The lamp went out and the engine finally died as well, leaving only the absolute silence drowning all the chattering around the onlookers._

_It took a few minutes before Joseph regained his conscious, the ache in the back of his neck and back making him groan and moan in pain. He then pushed himself off the air bag, trying to regain consciousness of the surroundings, “Sebastian…?”_

_And that’s when he looked to his left, the horror plastered in his eyes was so intense he screamed at his partner, “Sebastian!! Wake up!!”_

_Struggling, he managed to release the seat belt and crawl out of the broken passenger window, hitting the wet floor hard as he grabbed his abdomen tightly, hoping the pain would subside soon. He limped his way over to the driver side and noticed how the roof had dented and warped the shape of what was once the car window. He tried to open the door but it was stuck. So he kicked it, yanked it hard and tearing the air bag out of the way as best as he could. After some persuasion, the door finally budged and creaked aloud as one of the hinges fell apart. Sebastian’s hand was the first to slide out his side once the door opened, a sight that Joseph couldn’t stop to think of its potentiality. How lifeless it looked, how heavy it weighed. He didn’t want to assume the worst, so all he could think about was how he could save Sebastian. He released the seat belt and gently but firmly pulled the man out into the rain, completely unconscious and limp. Blood trickled profusely down from his head and some onto the floor as Joseph dragged his body further away from the crash._

_“Sebastian?” Joseph called, “Can you hear me? Wake up, Sebastian.”_

_No response. The man had passed out so cold._

_Joseph continued shaking, yelling to the bystanders to call for an ambulance. He looked calm and rational even perhaps. But it was nothing compared to what his heart truly felt._

_‘Please wake up, Sebastian… please…’_

The doors to the emergency room finally opened as the light dimmed out from the sign. Joseph leaped up to his feet and went to the doctor who came out first, trying to keep his voice as calm as he could.

“How’s Sebastian? Is he alright, doctor?”

The slight frown on the doctor’s face made his heart sank. The way his eyes looked down at the floor for a split moment before he sighed made Joseph cringed. The way he hesitated to speak made his fears come back alive. Joseph prayed hard. He’s never been a believer but at this moment he felt so helpless that he could nothing other than to pray. Pray for a miracle, pray for a chance.

“I’m sorry, detective. We did the best we could.”

And the doctor walked away, silently.

Joseph stood still and silent, until the soft creaking of the patient bed wheeling past grabbed his attention. Out came a bed covered in white sheet, over a man’s face, lifeless and empty. The nurses stopped for a moment when they saw Joseph’s hand reached out, unconsciously, uncovering the sheet to reveal the slumbering face of a man he’s been so acquainted with everyday. The face of a man who was so cocky, nonchalant, confident, brash, cheerful, and now how it was all lost here. He was never going to do any of that ever again, Joseph told himself and it almost killed him there.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” One of the nurses said before she covered Sebastian’s face up again. Then they wheeled the bed away from Joseph, who was still standing so rigidly, almost lost in his own thoughts, his own memory.

Everyone else didn’t dare approach Joseph. All they could do was stare at him and imagine the pain he’s going through right now. But they could never understand or feel it, that much Joseph knew. How could they? So Joseph slowly walked away.

His mind was completely unraveled. It immediately started to flash back everything he had ever shared with Sebastian, all the fights and all the happiness they had together since the beginning. How they were once complete strangers who became best partners and how they’ve always fought over every little single thing yet patch them up together nevertheless. But it was all gone now. They had become things that he would never have ever again. Sebastian was gone, his partner was gone… forever.

Before he knew it, Joseph found himself standing on top of the roof, the clouds over him clearing up on their own. He knew he should feel glad that he was alive but he couldn’t. A part of him couldn’t forget the rigor in Sebastian’s eyes, how dedicated he was to his job and to this city. How even the last glimpse of his face was the fire in them. And to think that it was all lost in a blink of an eye over a petty theft that they could’ve ignored since it wasn’t approved yet. All because Sebastian had faith, that he wanted justice to protect this city… that was how Sebastian had been, and that was the very man that he was so proud to have as a partner because he respected him so much. But now… he’s gone. His name will become a whisper in years to come and people will soon forget him eventually. Joseph didn’t want to think about that, only because he had come to know Sebastian so personally that he wasn’t just a partner anymore, he was a friend, a man he could trust completely.

“Sebastian…” Joseph finally whispered his name, and the tears crowding his eyes began to fall freely. His soft whimpers echoed through the cold air and they continued ringing in his ears, just like Sebastian’s voice did so in his mind and heart.

The voice he so desperately hoped for… that he could hear them in person again.


End file.
